The Batman

“You’re everything they say, ain’t you?” — that’s how I’d describe the hype for Matt Reeves’ The Batman. It was adrenaline stretched across almost two years: from the August 2020 teaser at the first DC FanDome (back when it was meant to come out in October 2021, before COVID delays), to the main trailer in October 2021, the final trailer in December, and finally, the March 2022 release. Why that quote? Because the hype, for whoever was not there, let me tell you: it was exactly what people say it was. I remember October 16, 2021. I was at my grandma’s house, leg bouncing at my desk, waiting for the DC FanDome livestream. My grandma called me to dinner; I finished just in time and told her not to disturb me — I had something important to watch. What was it? The Batman main trailer. Back then, all we had was the 2020 teaser and a sea of insane rumors: Pattinson and Zoë Kravitz having sex on the Batmobile and getting her pregnant; Pattinson fighting with Matt Reeves, who supposedly told him, “We wrap in a month. After that, I don’t want to see your face ever again”; fake script leaks about Gordon betraying Batman; even Red Hood randomly showing up. I needed that trailer like oxygen. I waited four hours, spamming a Discord server: “Where the fuck is The Batman trailer???” Then, it happened. The DC FanDome hosts stood in the Batcave. “Here we fucking go!!!” I muttered, shutting every door so the living room was silent. A behind-the-scenes montage rolled first: Nirvana’s Something in the Way on piano, Pattinson speaking about Batman’s rage — “Right from the beginning, there’s a desperation to it. He’s really working out this rage, all the fights seem very personal.” Then BAM! — Batman smashing a face-painted thug into the subway platform. Even this BTS reel felt like the real deal. Reeves, Pattinson, and Kravitz appeared over Zoom to talk about the shoot, and then… the trailer began. It hit 13-year-old me like a meteor. When Alfred muttered “Dear God,” I put my hands over my mouth and whispered, “I don’t deserve this movie.” By December, when I went to see Spider-Man: No Way Home for the second time, the trailer popped up before the film. My eyes widened — I’d just told my mom and her boyfriend about The Batman the night before. Hearing her boyfriend say “Batmaaaannnn” as it began felt like confirmation: this was real, and in three months, it would be mine. January brought the merchandise. I grabbed Batman and Riddler Funko Pops, plus Oreos with a special promo website that let you tour the Batcave and hear a new theme — Ave Maria x The Batman. The chorus hit me like a nuclear blast. For curious minds and listeners: www.youtube.com/watch?v=tY7AHmxIvPk February: tickets secured. I called my mom just to say, “On March 4th I’m gonna see The Batman. That’s all. Bye, love you.” The weeks were full of TV spots and fan edits — I even made a few. Then came March 4th. I texted my Discord friend Jack: “In ten hours I’ll be in the theater.” I didn’t even give a fuck that I had a History test that day, my only thought was “I’m finally going to see The Batman”. I guess it’s like that moment in Superbad (2007) when McLovin goes “It’s in!” but of course I wouldn’t know what having a sexual connection with somebody is like, right? After the test (passed it), I ditched school with my best friend and another tagalong. By 6pm., the theater was almost full. Another sign: this was happening. Silence. Three seconds in: WB logo, red. Then DC, red. Then… THE BATMAN logo in full IMAX crimson, Ave Maria swelling. It was so simple yet effective, it was like they were saying “Hey we are WB and DC and this is our film, The Batman. Let’s get started”. You probably know the opening: Riddler killing Mayor Mitchell in a jolt of horror that left me buzzing for ten minutes. My heart spiked again when the car smashed into that drophead during Bruce’s October 31st monologue. And then — the first fight scene. “What the hell are you supposed to be?” a thug sneers. Five seconds later: the most brutal beatdown followed by a whispery “I’m vengeance.” I whispered to the guy next to me, “Watch — he’s gonna beat the shit out of them.” He did. My seatmate didn’t care, but I was high on The Batman — and only ten minutes in. I stared at that IMAX screen like it was holy. Robert Pattinson’s Batman didn’t just entertain me; he made me feel like I belonged somewhere. Like I was seen. Like my anger had finally been understood — and projected. When the movie came to an end, I felt like crying right then and there  and when I got home, I didn’t even register that I had really seen The fucking Batman until I said out loud before bed, “Holy shit I have actually watched The Batman, I know what happens in The Batman, all of it”. The Batman was my escape from reality, my new favorite movie for years to come. When I was 13, I thought Bruce Wayne in The Batman was just the coolest, darkest take yet. Now, at 17, I know why I really connected with him — because he’s a fucking jackass. And so am I. He’s an angry, shut-in asshole who shuts out the people who care about him and listens to Nirvana. That’s me. That’s been me for years. I’ve got the same anger, the same control issues, the same “fuck you, I’ll handle it myself” attitude. And every time I think about it, there’s this sick satisfaction in realizing I’m basically Bruce Wayne in The Batman. He’s me, he talks like I do, he acts like I do, he listens to Nirvana like I do. And to me, that’s the only Batman that actually fucking matters, even though I’ve always loved the character in general. The way he talks to Alfred, the meanness in it? I’ve done that to the people closest to me more times than I’d like to admit. The way his jaw locks up every time someone says “your father”? The way he sees the worst in people first? I do the same shit. That's me. Bruce Wayne is my shayla, I want to fucking hug him. For the first time in my life watching and rewatching this movie, I felt like sobbing uncontrollably every time someone mentioned his father to him. And when he said “If I can't change things here, if I can't have an effect... then I don’t care what happens to me” I also felt like crying. I feel that in my bones. I’ve lived that. I live that every fucking day. I’d do anything to make films one day and I do not care what happens to me. I’d also rather wreck myself to save someone else from their shit — their danger, their mistakes, their addictions — than lift a finger to save my own ass. Bruce's addiction is being Batman. It's clear as day to me that he has developed an addiction to it, we see him losing himself under the mask! Which is why I like to describe the movie more as a movie about addiction than just as a regular superhero flick. It is not just a superhero flick. My addictions however are other things, generally film and substances (not hard drugs tho). And the truth is, I don’t give a fuck what happens to me. I tell myself I mean that, just like he does — until things get too real. Until it’s not a movie line anymore, until it’s not heroic, until it’s just staring down the barrel of losing everything. That’s when the fantasy burns off, and what’s left isn’t pretty. Almost every day, what was left of me a few months ago when I was deep in addiction was me, drunk as shit on a regular school night, collapsing on the street from how drunk I was and my chest hurting from smoking so many cigarettes. I've always noticed how different Bruce Wayne is from the Batman persona. Batman is this confident, know-it-all guy who beats the crap out of anyone he wants, while Bruce Wayne won't even look you in the eye and quivers under the raindrops like a wet kitten. That's also me. Not that I beat up people, but I've also used a mask my whole life to the point where now I don't know who I am anymore when I am not performing. I'm just as lost and clueless and afraid as Bruce Wayne, the recluse prince of Gotham. I rewatch The Batman every year, multiple times a year in fact. In 2022, when it started to stream on HBO MAX, I was watching it every month. This year is my second rewatch. I often feel like I don't need that many rewatches anymore because I already have the whole movie printed on the inside of my brain. I know the lines, the action, how the scene I'm watching was written in the script and where it was bolded or underlined or both and where that Joker deleted scene was supposed to go (right before Batman sends Selina to talk to Gil Colson btw). It is safe to say that this movie might just forever be my favorite and a huge part of my life. In fact, not just this movie, but the whole upcoming trilogy. From what I'm hearing so far, Part II is going to rock my fucking brain just the way Part I did and I couldn't be more hyped. Thank you, Matt Reeves and Robert Pattinson and everyone involved in the making of this movie. I think you might've literally saved my life a few years ago.